Daft Punk – The Tron Albums (2011)

If you liked Tron: Legacy, and loved the music in the film, The Nutwork has a treat for you.

Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski and music supervisor Jason Bentley approached Daft Punk and requested that the duo compose the film score. When asked why he wished to work with the duo, Kosinski replied, “How could you not at least go to those guys?”Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk had previously produced the soundtrack to Gaspar Noé’s 2002 film Irréversible. Noé had asked Bangalter to compose the soundtrack to the film Enter the Void, but Bangalter was working on Tron: Legacy at the time and instead served as sound effects director.

The score of Tron: Legacy features an 85-piece orchestra, recorded at AIR Lyndhurst Studios in London. Kosinski stated that the score is intended to be a mixture of orchestral and electronic music. Daft Punk’s score was arranged and orchestrated by Joseph Trapanese, who stated he is a fan of Daft Punk as a duo and as solo artists. The band collaborated with him for two years on the score, from pre-production to completion. Trapanese cited the collaboration between the different genres to work out well in the end, stating:“It seems complicated at the end of the day, but it’s actually quite simple. I was locked in a room with robots for almost two years and it was simply a lot of hard work. We were just together working throughout the whole process and there was never a point where the orchestra was not in their minds and the electronics were not in my mind. It was a continual translation between the two worlds and hopefully we put something together that will be something different because of that.”

Daft Punk is noted for its elaborate live shows, in which visual elements and effects are incorporated with the music. The group is also known for its emphasis on visual and story components associated with their musical productions, as well as for wearing ornate robot costumes in public and while performing.

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The original soundtrack was entirely written, composed, mixed and performed by Daft Punk. The 22 tracks were all included in some point in the movie, and the duo even had an appearance in the film. There were several shots of the DJ booth, where Daft Punk was handling the controls and were even pointed out by Zeus at one point. A full length video for the song “Derezzed” was used extensively to promote the film, and the Daft Punk image was even used in promotional posters for the film in Europe. I belleve at least part of the success of this film was due to the inclusion of Daft Punk. It was, after all, a main drawing point for me viewing the film – so it’s safe to say others were drawn for the same reason.

Planned for an April release, Disney has taken the soundtrack one step further and will be issuing a new, remixed version of the Daft Punk score, titled ‘R3C0NF1GUR3D’. This version will have the songs from the first original score remixed by some of today’s hottest DJs and electronic artists. Appearances include The Crystal Method, Moby, Paul Oakenfold, Kaskade, Photek and others. Most of these tracks have been extended, which is a good thing. My only complaint about the original score was that many of the tracks were far too short. The fresh takes are all pretty on spot, and I have to confess to liking ‘R3C0NF1GUR3D’ far more than the original soundtrack.